Mia 

from the 

Sublime 

tc the 

SiidkuUus 






I 




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INDIA 

FROM THE 

SUBLIME 

TO THE 

RIDICULOUS 



ILLUSTRATED 



my 
{JAr. and Mrs) W. J. Tiogers 

Fourth edition, revised 



.r4 



Preface, 



We have no apologies to ofer for the 
following pages. Many of the chapters 
were written while we were in India, and 
we were directly connected therewith. 
They are true to life generally in that 
land. A number of the articles have ap- 
peared in American papers. 

At the request of friends, we publish 
this book. 

Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Rogeirs. 

Oct. 1, 1916, Oakland, Calif. 



CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I Americans Complimented . 9 

II Village Meeting Echoes .• 12 

III A Strange Occurrence . . 16 

IV The Taj Mahal . ... 18 
V A Hindu Wedding ... 23 

VI Isaac 30 

VII At Lover's Lodge .... 32 

VIII Thats What Gets Me ... 38 

IX The Devil in the Well ... 39 

X Officers at Igatpuri ... 42 

XI Superstition Defeated . . 46 

XII Among the Tombs .... 48 

XIII Why She Became Queen . . 53 

XIV Beggars at Igatpuri ... 55 
XV Pardevi 58 

XVI The Mistri 62 

XVII Hindus' Incineration Grr5und 70 

XVIII Nanahar's Translation . . 75 

XIX The Dhobi 78 

XX Little Assuria 85 

XXI A Marvel 90 

XXII Grinding at the Mill ... 93 

XXIII A Christmas Across the Deep 96 

XXIV Bible Scenes in India ... 100 

'''',.. . 105 



^v^ 



XXVI An Old Man's Sacrifice . . 110 



CHAPTER I. 
Americans Complimented. 



NOT many days ago we were occas- 
ioned to go to Bombay and bring 
supplies for the mission. We went 
to the station, purchased our ticket, and 
entered our compartment in the railway 
carriage where we noticed a dark-faced, 
heavy set, elderly native sitting in a cor- 
ner, and took a seat by his side. Conver- 
sation ensued. The train left the station 
and we were soon going at full speed to- 
ward our destination. As it takes about 
three hours to make this journey, it gave 
us quite a while to talk over some relig- 
ious and secular subjects. 

We were about to finish our colloquy 
when the aged-faced man looked up into 



JO INDIA FROM THE SUBLIMll 



my face and said, ^'I judge you are an 
American missionary, are you not?" 

""Yes, my friend, I am." 

"Well, sir, I am glad we could make 
this trip together. I always like to talk 
to Americans." 

'^I am glad to hear that, but do you not 
like to chat with people from other coun- 
tries ^ ' ' 

''Oh, yes; but I like Americans best." 

''But why do 3^ou like them best, may I 
askr' 

"Well, sir, because I have lived many 
vears and have never known one of them 

to smoke or swear." 

f ^ ^ f ^ ^ 

The train entered Victoria Terminus, 
which is considered one of the most elab- 
orate railway stations in the world, and 
we parted, but before parting we gave 
our new friend an invitation to call at the 
mission on his return, for w^hich he 
thanked us and promised to come. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



11 



w 
o 

w 

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> 

l-H 

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!2! 




12 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER II. 
Village Meeting Echoes. 



WE talk of the ^^poor ignorant 
heathen/' — yes, we sing, '^The 
heathen in his blindness bows 
down to wood and stone," and this for the 
most part is true, yet the people of India 
think, and many think deeply — dig deep 
doAvn into the depths of their marvelous 
metaphysics, — men, women and children 
too, who seem to be born philosophers. 

But we grant, there are classes. En 
masse, however, as in this land, are those 
to whom the question of '^What shall we 
eat and what shall we drink?" are of in- 
finite moment, and yet, beneath it all, 
they think some too, as we have ofttimes 
proved in a village meeting. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 13 



For instance, the man we ran across in 
our jungle work who was about to con- 
clude to worship the sun. One of the low- 
est casts, poor, downtrodden — in appear- 
ance, not capable of thought beyond that 
of rice. ^'But," says he, 'Svhay you say 
sounds very good, padre sahib (preach- 
er), though the Mohammedan declares he 
is right; the Brahmins say, ^Brahm is all, 
and all is Brahm,' and you tell us of Jesus 
Christ, the only Saviour. Whom shall I 
believe "? Why should I bow to any of 
your prophets ? I do not know what to do 
else I worship the sun. He gives me light, 
he gives me heat, he makes my grain to 
grow and thus feeds me. Why should I 
not worship him"?'' 

Of course, we pointed him beyond the 
creature to the Creator and he bowed, 
but no sooner had he done than another 
volley of questions came from the crowd. 
^^What is the real meaning of the word 
son'?" ^'In what sense is Jesus the son 
of God?" Can God have a son in mortal 
shape ? " 

We answer: Christ did not first become 
the Son of God when he assumed a mortal 



14 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

shape. He was the Son of God from all 
eternity; not in a physical sense, but as 
the object and reciprocator of the Fath- 
er's love. 

Returning again to our message, some 
one quickly catches up another thread of 
it. '' You say Father, Son and Holy Ghost 
are three in one. Can that great one be 
divided 1 H not, why not?" And still we 
answer,^ ' God is spirit and hoAv can you di- 
vide spirit *?" Seeing the point, ''Agreed," 
shouts out one from another direction, 
"We cannot divide spirit." This is ac- 
cording to Vedanthic philosophy, though 
they have yet to really find the relation of 
matter to spirit. However, they argue, 
''There is only one great entity existent 
and that is a sort of vague, misty, imper- 
sonal substance — spirit. All else is delus- 
ion. Everything we can sense, even our 
own existence and individuality is a mere 
mirage, a shadow. Just as the virtual 
images of the sun reflect in thousands of 
bodies of water, so are the souls of men 
unreal, and only illusionary reflections of 
the one eternal soul,- — the One who fills 
all space and pervades all beings. No 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 15 

human ego. I do not exist for the thing I 
call I is only an infinitesimal drop in the 
sea of infinitude. When we arrive at this 
conviction we disappear from view, ab- 
sorbed into the one original." Hence the 
idea that there is no sin, since all apparent 
action is unreal. No sin, no salvation, for 
what need of a Saviour"? ^, 

Oh! how sickening all this. Surely 
nothing less than the power of the Holy 
Spirit can convince men and women with 
such views, of sin and their need of a 
Saviour. But we remember the preach- 
ing of the cross is not without effect, and 
we continue to tell the story, for there are 
some that have never heard; and right 
there that eventide were some standing 
and asking, ^' Where is your Lord and 
Christ now^" whose pleading counte- 
nances the plaint of Job, '^Oh, that I knew 
where I might find him, that I might 
come even to his seat." We reply, ^^I 
dwell in the high and holy place, with 
him that is of a contrite heart, ' ' and some 
find him — yes, really find him whose eye 
runneth to and fro through the whole 
earth. 



16 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

In some places whole villages have 
turned to the Saviour. We knoAv one 
missionary whom three decades back, the 
Methodists called the white horse of the 
conference there, because he had so little 
success, but recently he won a whole vil- 
lage to the Saviour, and unlike so many 
missions in India, the converts largely 
support the work, Ps. 2:8. 



CHAPTER III. 
A Strange Occurrence. 



EVEEAL days ago a young man 
friend of ours needing some 
change, asked his mother for one 
rupee, whereupon she brought the amount 
and laid it on their table. After a short 
conversation, both mother and son left 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 17 

the room and a little later returned to get 
the rupee, when behold, it had vanished! 

During their absence there had been no 
one in the room save a Hindu who was 
employed as a servant, and he was speed- 
ily summoned into account. 

^^Boy, where is that rupee we left on 
the tabled' 

The servant replied, ^*Ham ko ne ata/* 
which literally says, ^'It does not come to 
me," meaning he did not know. 

^^Yes, you do, boy. Now, tell the 
truth." 

^'No, I don't," he rejoined, '^and if I 
do, I'll lose one of my fingers before morn- 



nig. ' ' 



Nothing more was said. The servant 
was sent on an errand to the bazaar. On 
his return to the bungalow, a dog came 
running after him and bit off one of his 
fingers. The young fellow was much 
frightened and ran to the bungalow with 
his hand paining and bleeding, confess- 
ing his theft. 

A strange occurrence, yet ever and 
anon sin will out, for has not God said, 
*^Be sure your sin will find you outf" 



18 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

CHAPTEEIV. 
The Taj Mahal. 




HE Taj Mahal— that wonderful 
star of architecture — at one time 
rated as one of the seven \Yonders 
of the world and may be yet for aught I 
know. Here it stands, a great glare of 
grandeur. The beauty is perhaps most 
perfect immediately after sunset or un- 
der the moonlight, but every change of 
light seems to lend new graces to it. 

It is a great white marble sepulchre, 
the tomb of the Pride of the palace, as we 
read in Indian literature; however, the 
king Shah Jehan, who erected the monu- 
ment to his wife, lies there also. 

Mumtaz-i-Mahal was the grand-daugh- 
ter of a Persian who came to India to seek 
his fortune, and finally rose to power in 
that land. She was married to Shah 
Jehan at an early age and died when the 



20 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

eighth child was born. They laid her in 
the garden where the Taj stands until the 
mausoleum was built. According to Tav- 
ernier, who records that he saw both the 
commencement and the completion, the 
Taj cost over ten million dollars, and it 
took seventeen thousand men twenty-two 
years to build it. It is made of white 
marble excepting what is inlaid with 
precious stones, and doors here and there 
which were silver but later were replaced 
in sandal wood. 

Marble screens, so delicately sculp- 
tured as to represent a most beautiful net 
work of lace, surround the tombs. The 
central marble platform on which the 
tomb stands is 18 feet high and 313 feet 
square. At each corner is a minaret of 
white marble 137 feet high. The tomb it- 
self measures 186 feet on each side. The 
height of the walls and parapet over 
them is 108 feet. At each corner above 
them rise smaller marble domes, and on 
the center soars the great central dome 
which rises to a height of 187 feet, the 
metal pinnacle adding yet 30 feet to the 
whole. 



1 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 21 

As we walked into this dome, a guide 
called out, ** Allah/ ^ the Mohammedan's 
word for God. The echo floated round and 
round the walls and gradually rose high- 
er and higher, fainter and fainter, until 
after about five minutes it seemed to pass 
out through the top of the dome in the 
smallest whisper. Even a whisper in the 
dome travels at a great rate and reminds 
one of the Scripture, telling us that ^Svhat 
is whispered in secret shall be proclaimed 
on the housetop. ' ' 

All the spandrels of the Taj, all the 
angles and more important details are 
heightened by being inlaid with precious 
stones. These are combined in wreaths 
and scrolls and frets exquisite in design 
and beautiful in color. They form the 
most unique and precious style of orna- 
mentation ever adopted in architecture. 
This mode of ornamentation is lavishly 
bestowed on the tombs themselves. They 
pointed out to us the place in one of the 
inlaid designs on the Queen's tomb, from 
which the British took the diamond that 
we saw in the crown of Queen Victoria 
then ruler of England. 



22 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



We eould write and write and yet no 
pen can describe a visit to the Taj, for in 
our visit all around the world and through 
the different countries of earth, there is 
nothing in architecture that we found to 
compare In beauty and grandeur with 
this wonderful mausoleum. 




TO THE RIDICULOUS 23 



CHAPTEE V. 
A Hindu Wedding. 



FROM before sunrise in the morning 
until after midnight, the drums 
have been beating and the bagpipes 
have not ceased to peal forth their pecul- 
iar melody. We see the people running 
to and fro in the village street carrying 
green branches, and stopping in front of 
Mochi's place of business, for Mochi is a 
shoemaker. With these branches and 
some sticks, they are erecting a sort of an 
arbor which projects part way across the 
street. 

As drums and horns and most any and 
every kind of music and noises are com- 
mon at feasts, shows, and the burial or 
burning of the dead, we think all this 



24 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 




CATCHING TODDY 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 25 

tamasha so far nothing strange; but as 
various other things take place one after 
another and all at the same time, our cur- 
iosity is aroused and we ask, ^^What is go- 
ing on at the shoe shop^'^ 

The answer comes from our always 
well-informed ayah (native nurse), for 
she is ever the village gossip, ^^A Hindu 
wedding." Being the first we had heard 
of at our station since our arrival in this 
wonderland of the East, we could not re- 
frain from asking the privilege to attend, 
and were gladly granted the same. 

Here we go. ^^ Shall we be in time?'' 
Well, as it lasts for several days, we shall 
be in time for some of it at least; and I 
should like you to see it with us. 

We arrive at the bungalow and hear 
shouts, singing and the same old music 
rolling on. A group of women and girls 
are in the rear of the scene, while men and 
boys make merry out under the arbor. All 
sit on the ground, which serves the pur- 
pose of a floor in India, especially among 
the common and lower castes. The men 
are drinking a light-colored liquid and 
from the way they act, I am inclined to 



26 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



think it is some strong drink. (Prov. 20: 
21.) 

A certain native discovers the Ameri- 
can guests standing near the doorway and 
welcomes us with smiles and kind words, 
though we can scarcely hear what he 
says, owing to the musicians going at full 
speed, who have evidently espied us also 
and are displaying their skill. 

After a short interview, our friend 
calls the father of the bridegroom, who 
seems to be boss of the whole affair — I 
presume it is because he pays the bills, 
and I must add, these are costly days. In- 
deed, weddings mean many days — yes, 
years of hard labor, and oftentimes more 
than the savings of a lifetime are spent in 
a single day for the occasion. The cost 
varies considerably. Some spend one 
hundred rupees, while others spend many 
times that amount. A continual feast is 
carried on for days. Opium and intoxi- 
cants are greatly indulged in, and an 
elaborate display of fireworks is expected. 

However, the father reaches us, throws 
up his hands and begins to shake his fists, 
the result of which reminds one of a throt- 



TO THE EIDICULOUS 27 

tie on a railway engine, — as soon as the 
throttle is moved, the train begins to 
^^slow up." Almost immediatel}^ the noise 
was hushed. 

'^ Would you like to have your pictures 
taken'?" we asked, for we had taken our 
camera with us. ^^ Whatever is your wish, 
sir," he replied. So arrangements were 
made, and before we got through, the 
whole multitude wanted to be photo- 
graphed — quite unlike the jungle folks, 
who, when we turned our camera upon 
them, took to their heels lest they should 
be killed. There were father, brothers, 
uncles, aunts, in fact, as aforesaid, all the 
wedding guests march into the street and 
a picture is taken and nobody injured. 

To the right stands the father ; near the 
center is a young man with a chadar, a 
piece of cloth draped in the shape of a 
cross over his breast. This is the bride- 
groom with his bride, a little girl of about 
nine years old, at his right. 

She wears a red sari (dress) decorated 
with white fancy work; a necklace worth 
twenty-one rupees (seven dollars) 
around her neck; four rings on her toes. 



28 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

two in each ear, silver bracelets on her 
arms and wrists, and a large nosegay. 
She appears quite fancy in her bridal hab- 
iliment, which has been given her by the 
bridegroom. 

Look at her — a mere child, with many 
responsibilities of a full grown person. 
The ceremony was officially performed 
the third day of the feast, but the w^ed- 
ding is not yet over and three days have 
passed since then. She has not been al- 
lowed to rest since the first day of her 
wedding — she nor her husband. 

But the great day of her life is on — in 
India as in America — the day all girls 
look forward to— the wedding day. Yet, 
alas, how^ vastly different! The consent 
of the parties vitally interested in this 
marriage and most others here has never 
as much as been thought of nor consid- 
ered. Perhaps having never met before 
the vv^edding day, they take each other 
for better, for worse because of their par- 
ent's agreement in the matter. 

As for love, the rule in India is, ^^ Marry 
first and love will come after;" and gen- 
erally speaking, it does, at any rate, on 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 29 

the side of the young wife, who is said to 
be the essence of devotion to her lord and 
master. 

''Her faith is fixt and cannot move, 
She darkly feels him great and wise, 
And dwells on him with faithful eyes, 
'I cannot understand: I love.' " 




30 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER VI. 
Isaac. 



ISAAC is industrial after the oriental 
method, — that is to say, he is always 
doing something, but is economical 
of energy rather than time. 

If there are more ways than one in do- 
ing a thing, he has an unerring instinct 
which guides him to choose the one that 
costs the least trouble. He is a fatalist in 
philosophy, and this helps him too, for in 
transplanting a rose bush, he breaks off 
the root to save him the trouble of dig- 
ging deeper, for — ^if the plant is to live, it 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



31 



will live; if it is to die, it 
will die, for do not some 
plants live and some 
plants die"? This is when 
Isaac serves as a mallee. 

Yes; some plants live 
and some plants die, but 
more disappea r — and 
when I mention the mat- 
ter to Isaac, he treats me 
as a dreamer of dreams 
and declares we never had 
such. However, I find out 
later that he carries on a 
small nursery and seed 

business of his own; so decide to let him 

go. 




32 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER VII. 
At Lover's Lodge. 




ES, here we are, where ^^the spicy 
breezes blow soft o'er Ceylon's 
Isle," — back in a grove of cocoa- 
nut palms — Lover's Lodge they call it, 
and well-named it is, for one feels as 
though he would like to spend the rest of 
his life here, after the long, wearisome 
journey out from England. 

We spring from the rickshas with de- 
light ; a Singhalese servant meets us at the 
door and directs us into the spacious 
drawing room. These are the first few 
hours we have spent on land since going 
ashore at Suez, and how refreshing it is! 
The host and hostess are very pleasant, 
and make everything as delightsome a,s 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 33 

possible for us. He is a government offi- 
cial and relates many deeply interesting 
incidents of life here. 

How strange it all seems! Truly, we 
are in a different world, we think, after 
our tete-a-tete especially, and filled with 
wonder, we retire to our room where we 
anticipate sleeping once again in a bed 
that stands still. This night we are not 
to be ^'rocked in the cradle of the deep," 
where we so often failed to 4ay us down 
in peace to sleep,' for indeed, we had aw- 
ful storms at sea, tossed about at a terri- 
ble rate in a condemned vessel; actually 
lost for three hours, and when the Cap- 
tain got his bearings, which were deter- 
mined by a certain star that appeared 
toward morning, we found ourselves just 
off the island of Perim where the poor 
China sank. Only a little while and we 
saw her mast rising out of the water. 

At such a time one cannot help being 
reminded of Pat's answer when he was 
psked which he would rather be in, — a 
wreck on land or at sea. After thought- 
fully scratching his head, he replied: 
'* Faith, and I should prefer to be in a 



34 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



wreck on land, for then, there you are; 
but, and if you are in a wreck and go to 
the bottom of the sea, then Avhere you 
SLveV 

But I must not dwell on that dreadful 
night for we are now preparing to retire 




COLOMBO STREET SCENE 



and are soon in bed, right in the veranda 
window, where fresh, cool air comes pour- 
ing in — -happy, content, ready for dream- 
land, when we feel a strange sensation in 
our limbs. What a queer streak our cir- 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



35 




/ 




THE COBRA 



36 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

culation has taken! Reminds one of 
blood trickling through some lower vein 
of the limb. Surely it will pass off soon, 
we think, when behold! it becomes violent 
and even more violent, till we are 
alarmed — and finally such a wriggle 
comes that we do not take time to think 
farther or conclude, but out through the 
mosquito netting which has so quietly 
tucked us in for the night, we find our- 
selves upon a chair shouting out to the 
rest of the house to come and see what is 
in the bed. 

The hostess comes smiling through the 
door, for true to the Orient, nothing wor- 
ries her. 

^^I forgot to tell you to watch for 
snakes,'' said she. ^^They are common 
with us here," and walking over to the 
bed, they saw the fellow crawling out 
along under the sheet, making for the 
veranda window — yes, that very window 
which we appreciated so much upon re- 
tirement. Needless to add, that we had 
bad dreams that night whenever we took 
time to dream. Oh, that wriggle! We 
shall never forget it; and even though 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 37 

''all the world does love a lover," we must 
say in warning, that there may be things 
about any lover's lodge that are not alto- 
gether lovable, especially in this part of 
the world. It seems that there is ever 
something lurking around the corner 
seeking your life. Ne fronti crede. 



ii-ii ^ lii 



/. 



//. //*. . /v. 



A & 



o y, v//. vni. 



V. 






38 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER VIII. 
*^That^s What Gets Me.'' 



NOT long since, a missionary friend 
of ours while on his way to our 
station, met a Brahmin, and dur- 
ing the course of their conversation, he 
approached the subject of Christianity. 

The Brahmin remarked that he had 
been educated in a Christian mission 
school and had learned much of the Bible. 

At this our friend asked the high-caste 
Hindu (for that is what a Brahmin is) 
what he thought of Jesus Christ. 

The Brahmin said: ^^Of course, I do not 
believe in Jesus Christ as you Christians 
do, but I must confess he did some things 
I cannot but think about. '^ 

^'May I ask w^hat some of them are'?" 
queried our friend. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 39 

'^Yes," replied the Brahmin, '^you 
know when they went to kill him, he said, 
^Father, forgive them.' That's what gets 
me." 



CHAPTER IX. 
The Devil in the Well. 



IN OUR mission compound we have 
three wells. Two of these are very 
shallow and do not amoimt to very 
much. If they did, they would probably 
have some history like the third one 
which is in our front yard, a little to the 
right of the front door of the bungalow. 
Several years ago a few natives were 
hired to dig the ^^front well," agreeing 
faithfully to dig it wide and deep, and 
give the owner a fine one so he might 



40 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

have water the year round and not sufer 
lack during the dry season. 

The work is begun. They dig about 
two feet down and find nothing but rock. 
At this discovery they bring crowbars, 
dynamite, etc. I might say right here 
that our India folks have not modern im- 
provements on every line; in fact, most 
everything is done in a primitive manner. 
We dig through rock with muscles and 
crowbars; blast by attaching a lighted 
candle to the end of a long stick or pole so 
as to reach from a distance the powder 
for the process. 

The combat is on. Pounding and blast- 
ing are heard. Pieces of rock ascend and 
lay on the surface of the ground above. 
After days of labor, the workmen reach 
a depth of about fifteen feet when all of a 
sudden the noise ceases, and they are 
climbing out of the well. 

^^Why are you not working?" asks the 
owner of the place. 

^'0 Sahib, devil in the well!'' 

^^You men go to work and keep your 
contract. There is nothing of the kind 
in the well.'' 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



41 



a 



Oh yes, there is, Sahib. We have dug 
until we have come to flint rock and that 
is a sign that Shaitan (Satan) is in the 
well." 

^*I must have it deejoer and if you do 
not work, what shall I do '^ ' ' 

^'We will work, Sahib; but we must 




THE BUNGALOW 



first go and offer sacrifice to our gods.'' 
'^Very well, go. Don't be long." 
^^We won't be long. Sahib: but you 
must give us a cock and a lamb for the 
sacrifice." 

^ ' Nay, nay ; I '11 never give you nor any- 
one else such things for offerings to stone 
and wooden gods," concludes the Sahib, 



42 INDIA FROM THE SULBIME 



and the men leave — yes, leave — and to 
this day the old well stands as it was then 
left. We have explored the bottom of it 
and find dirt, old tin, rags and all sorts of 
filth; but the only life, however, that we 
ran across was in frogs, eels and numer- 
ous flies and insects. 

The devil is not in the w^ell; he resides 
in the millions of stony hearts and wells 
that hold not the ^ living w^ater." 



CHAPTER X. 
Ofl&cers at Igatpuri. 




INDUSTAN not only has her beg- 
gars, naked, half-starved, illiter- 
ate people, but also possesses offi- 
cials, well-clad, well-fed and educated 
folk. Here we have a picture of the offi- 
cers at Igatpuri, for you. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 43 

The two men holding canes, sitting in 
the front row, are the magistrate and his 
assistant, who are the chief officers. The 
registrar, chief constables, pleaders, mu- 
nicipal secretary and land clerk make up 
the rest of that row. 

The second is composed of court clerks, 
and in the third row are the armed police 
and court peons. 

The learned men of this country, such 
as seen on the front row, are probably the 
most difficult class to deal with on relig- 
ious lines. We wonder not at the state- 
ment of Rev. W. T. Walker, who said he 
had to deal with ^'men of keen powers of 
intellect, whose subtle reasoning made 
one look at the foundation of one's own 
faith." 

Passing strange, is it not, that men of 
this rank should believe in and worship 
idols? But we remember ^^lot many 
mighty, not many noble are called, but 
God chose the foolish things of the world, 
that he might put to shame them that are 
wise.'' 

These officers carry on about the same 
kind of work as those of our homeland. 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 




TO THE RIDICULOUS ' 45 

They rank from the lowest to the highest 
caste, but all intermingle in business. 
Some of them feel as important over their 
offices as some other folks we know of, 
and put on as many ^^ airs'' as some of 
our Enghsh officials. 

As we neared the courtyard a few days 
ago we noticed one of these men with a 
sort of a red silk robe on. We started 
toward him, but how quickly he vanished 
from our sight ! Upon inquiry, we learned 
that he had just taken a religious bath 
which rendered him quite pure and holy, 
according to his views, and as he feared 
we might come in touch with and in some 
way pollute him, he hastened away as he 
did not want to bother with another ab- 
lution that morning. 



46 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTEE XI. 
Superstition Defeated. 




NE day when one of our native 
preachers was in the bazaar, a 
high-caste Hindu challenged him 
to make a trip to Ghoti, a village about 
five miles distant, on a full moonlight or 
a '^full dark" night. The high-caste 
promised the preacher ten rupees if he 
accepted and carried out this challenge. 

Let it be understood that the majority 
of Hindus believe Satan is out on very 
light or dark nights to injure the kali log 
(black people) ; therefore, they believe it 
dangerous to stroll at length under these 
conditions. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



47 



The challenge, nev- 
ertheless, is accepted 
with the understand- 
ing that the acceptor 
is to go to Ghoti on 
the coming night and 
call on a certain other 
Hindu, from whom he 
is to bring a letter 
stating the fact that 
he has made the mid- 
night visit. 

Mght came. It was 
intensely dark, but 
the preacher lighted 
his lantern and start- 
ed on his ten-mile 
journey. He arrived 
at Ghoti about mid- 
night, made the re- 
quired visit and re- 
turned to Igatpuri at three o'clock in the 
morning. The high-caste was awakened; 
evidence was given that the challenge 
had been carried out. The Hindu lost his 
ten rupees, and the devil failed to catch 
the preacher of Jesus Christ. 




48 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XII. 
Among the Tombs. 



AMONG the places frequented by vis- 
itors who come to Igatpuri, is the 
Mohammedans' cemetery. It is 
quite different from the burning ghat 
where nothing can bee seen after a funer- 
al service except an ash heap. Here we 
find bodies stored away in tombs. The 
white monuments over these tombs, which 
are erected in memory of the departed, 
give the place a modern aspect. 

These often have an ornamental design, 
but inscriptions, which go to make up a 
place of this kind in the homeland, are 
one of the missing links here. It would 
be difficult and next to impossible to do 
any engraving or use the chisel on these 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 49 

stones, for the inner composition is only 
mud dried or burned in the fire, which is 
afterwards slightly coated with cement 
and whitewashed. Of course, during the 
rains the whitening washes off, but as the 
cool season is ushered in, they are whit- 
ened again. 

As we write, we are reminded again of 
our Saviour's words, ^'Whited sepul- 
chres, which indeed appear beautiful out- 
ward, but are full of dead men's bones 
and all uncleanness." 

On the northwest corner of this plot of 
land is a native house with three rooms. 
One room is used for storing implements 
and tools ; another, the center room, is for 
the public to use for drinking, smoking, 
eating opium or anything else, sleeping, 
and for the purpose of offering special 
prayers to the devil. The third room is 
the quarters of two men w^ho wait upon 
the visitors and give information as to 
where the dead are buried. Both of them 
are darweshes and lead what is called a 
holy life. One is quite old and worships 
the devil. If a Mohammedan has a de- 
mon, he visits this devil worshipper and 
inquires what he shall do to be relieved, 



50 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

At this request, the old man goes and gets 
a book, which he has filled with his ovYn 
hand-writing, and reads from it in Hin- 
dustani in a sort of a buzzing manner, 
then tells the inquirer he can capture the 
demon for him. 

Of course, the poor, deluded fellow 
asks what he shall do. The reply is heard, 
^^ Bring me some limes (small lemons), 
some camphor, a stick of incense and 
some money." 

'Tis brought. The old man burns the 
cam^phor and incense, takes a lime in his 
hand and prays to the devil, after which 
he passes the lime to the inquirer and 
tells him to take it home and put it in his 
bed, near the head, and the devil will flee. 
If this promise comes to pass according 
to the inquirer's mind, he makes the sec- 
ond gift. 

Some people take copper or brass lock- 
ets and have the old man Avrite something 
on a bit of paper, which they enclose 
therein. They then string the locket 
around their necks, with the belief that 
no evil spirit can harm them. Others, in- 
stead of putting the writing in the locket^ 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 51 

enclose a bit of pig's hair, believing this 
to have the same effect in frightening 
devils away. 

Among the tombs there is a plot where 
nothing can be seen excepting four old 
wooden posts, which serve as legs to hold 
up a covering made of corrugated iron. 
Under this covering lies the body of a 
priest, who requested that no tombstone 
be erected over his grave, and told the 
people that whosoever might desire any- 
thing after his death, they might come to 
his grave and Avorship him and he would 
grant their desires. 

Under one of the trees one will notice a 
large jar which contains water. On top 
is a small cup used in dipping water from 
the jar and filling the tins that can be 
seen on the box. 

The Mohammedans use these tins of 
water in washing their mouths, hands 
and feet after they have buried a body, 
being very particular to thus purify 
themselves before entering the house. 

When we visited these grounds, we 
Avere welcomed by darweshes, Avho took 
great pride as well as care in showing us 



52 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

around. We had just finished our visit 
when it began to rain, and we were in- 
vited to come into the house — that center 
room. A number of people were prepar- 
ing opium to smoke. Sitting down on a 
mat which lay on the floor, we began to 
preach Christ, a Saviour for all. 

They listened well to the Gospel news, 
but what the outcome of that message 
will be in the hearts of these opium fiends 
and devil worshippers, we know not. We 
leave that with the many other questions 
attendant our service for the Master ^^ un- 
til the day dawn and shadows flee away." 




TO THE RIDICULOUS 53 



CHAPTER XIII. 



Why She Became Queen. 



EVEEYTHING great and good in 
Hindustan has some traditional 
origin as does every atrocity and 
absurdity. One of the famous traditions 
concerns the late queen of England, viz: 
why she was so good and kind. It is sup- 
pos'^ed that in years agone she was a frog, 
and the story of her transmigration is 
this : 

A wealthy king and his servants were 
tiger shooting in the jungles. At camp 
one day they left a deksha (pan) of milk 
open, which a cobra espied and crept into, 



54 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

quite concealing Ms deadly presence. A 
frog sat near by and became much 
troubled, for she thought of how the king, 
when he returned weary and thirsty, 
would go to drink the milk and be at- 
tacked by the cobra. 

Pondering how to save the king's life, 
the happy thought seized her to jump into 
the milk just as she should see him com- 
ing. This, she knew, would end her life, 
for the frog is considered unclean, and of 
course, her presence would defile the milk 
and the king upon seeing her in it, would 
angrily dash the milk, herself and all tj 
the ground. 

And so he did, but upon seeing the 
cobra spring from the bottom of the 
deksha, he shuddered at the thought of 
how near death's clutches he had been, 
and instead of further cursing the frog 
for what he at first thought a dastardly 
deed, quite understanding her motive and 
appreciating her sacrifice of life for him, 
poured forth blessings upon her, and 
said she should become a great and good 
queen, and such she became, 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 55 



CHAPTER XIV. 
Beggars at Igatpuri. 



HERE they come! Who are they? 
They are the lame, the halt, the 
sick and the blind. They vary in 
size as well as age. Some are mere babes 
facing a life of poverty and misery, while 
others are in old age and have eked out a 
mere existence to the present and will 
until death comes to relieve them. 

How did they become halt, lame and 
blind"? Some were born that way and 
others were made so by their parents in 
order to excite sympathy. Being in this 
condition, some are compelled to carry 
sticks or crutches, others are cra\fling on 
their hands and other parts of their 



56 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

bodies. This is a horrible sight! Surely 
we have ^^the poor with us." 

How filthy! Half naked — yes, many of 
them more than half and this is the cool 
season. A soldier's wife just out from 
England, exclaimed to a missionary, 
"My, how these people dress!" and the 
missionary responded, '^My, how they 
don't dress!" 

Did you say they had vermin'? Yes, 
and plenty. As they approach, w^e notice 
that a couple of them have fallen out of 
line. One sits on the ground while the 
other extricates the live stock from the 
field of hair. Shortly this execution is 
ended and these with the rest of the crowd 
have entered the mission compound. 
They gather at one corner of the bunga- 
low and are ready for service. The meet- 
ing opens with a song something like this : 

Jai, jai, jai! Masih ki jai, 

Maslub jo hua liai; 
Be-hacld liai uska p'yar a jib, 

Jai, jai! Masih ki jai. 

In substance they are singing: To Je- 
sus is the victory. He was crucified for 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 57 

US. Surely Ms love is wonderful. After 
the song, a missionary offers prayer and 
then comes the message. While that is 
being given, some seem more inclined to 
fight than listen; however, the preacher 
stills his congregation and finishes his 
discourse. Now questions are asked and 
answered, and they are dealt with in re- 
gard to their souls. 

Lastly, the rice question is on. ISTot all 
are given rice — only those who are dis- 
abled, and they receive one cup each, af- 
ter which they return to their shelter 
provided by the towns-people. Some of 
them have accepted Christ as their Sav- 
iour, and with these, others have aban- 
doned their caste ideas and labor with 
their hands, making an honorable living. 



58 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XV. 
Pardevi. 



AMONGr the twelve villages visited 
by our mission is Pardevi. It is 
a small willage with, perhaps, not 
much over fifty inhabitants, and is situ- 
ated on a large rock on the northeastern 
slope of one of the peaks of the Western 
ghats, about three miles from the mis- 
sion. 

Although not far distant, yet on ac- 
count of its rough and crooked path, it 
takes as much time and strength to reach 
it as it does those of a greater distance. 
There is no wagon road leading to it — 
nothing but a narrow footpath filled with 
rocks, and during the monsoons that is 
crossed by numerous rivulets. In some 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 59 

places it is almost perpendicular and so 
narrow that two persons can hardly pass 
each other. As we come to the summit of 
this mountain path, we are invariably 
ready for a rest, and after taking that, we 
go down a steep incline and on through 
what is known as ^^ tiger jungle." 

This jungle is filled with gloom. After 
one enters he cannot see much of any- 
thing but animals, reptiles, shrubbery, 
and the sky above. The tiger frequents 
this jungle during the hot season when 
water is scarce. Only recently a doctor 
from England shot a tiger in it. The 
hooded cobra, India's king of snakes, a 
most venomous viper, has his den here 
also. We often see him on our journey 
to and from the village. 

It is generally about eight o'clock in 
the morning Avhen we arrive at Pardevi. 
The meetings are opened with song while 
the natives gather. Usually there are 
about thirty-five at the service. There 
would be more but generally some are 
working in the field or caring for the buf- 
faloes. All that attend listen eagerly, as 
a rule, and ask many questions about our 
religion. 



60 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



The first time we went to this village, 
we began our meeting near an old wood 
pile, when an elderly native invited us 
into an old Hindu temple. The invitation 
was accepted. We entered and found it 
empty with the exception of a remnant 
of a stone god. From that first visit, 
which was many months ago, we have 
used this temple for Gospel services. 

Pardevi is one of the most receptive 
villages we are evangelizing. They feel 
the need of a faith that oSers more to 
man than theirs does. 




TO THE RIDICULOUS 



61 




62 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XYI. 
The Mistri. 



THE MISTRI, and surely he is a 
mystery in very fact. We tried 
to do without him more than once, 
but like so many other things in this 
world, he seems to be a necessary evil at 
times in India. However, evil or no evil 
(as unlikely as the latter may be) he is 
necessary and we must not be ironical. 
He is to be appreciated, indeed. 

Well, there are mistries and mistries. 
There are some that when we get them, 
Ave can do nothing but dismiss them, and 
this is not only hard on them, but a dis- 
count to ourselves as well; for every dis- 
missal weakens our position, and in the 
morning conference in the bazaar among 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



63 




64 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

the servants, none holds so low a place as 
the sahib (master or gentleman) who has 
had five cooks in six months. In fact, he 
who parts with his servants lightly can 
scarcely retain a good servant. Only 
loafers will come to him and he must pay 
them a good price. 

But they come — some one, always — as 
soon as it is found out the sahib is in need 
of a mistri. 

Here is Rama, a jack of all trades, 
whom we afterward employed as mallee, 
dhambar-wallah and most any other kind 
of a wallah (wallah meaning most any- 
thing here) that we needed, for whatso- 
ever we needed on the line of a servant, 
Eama dressed to suit the occasion and ap- 
peared before us for the position; always 
ready for work but never had any, at 
least, for long at a time — even if he 
should, he was ever for finding an easier 
place. Poor Rama! he was not a tile 
short in the upper story when it came to 
lying, stealing, shirking, and so on; in 
fact, nulli secundus in all these graces ( ?) 
characteristic of the Hindu, But to look 
at him, he was a most unsuspecting crea- 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 65 

ture, whether he appeared as a Hindu, 
Christian or Mohammedan, for indeed, 
he was whichever suited his convenience 
pro tern. 

However, we found we could ill afford 
to keep him, so along came the prophet- 
looking old Mohammedan with his 
whiskers dyed in red, signifying he had 
made a pilgrimage to Mecca, visited the 
kaaba stone and paid his rites to Moham- 
med. He does very well as a cook, but all 
of a sudden one day he flies into a rage at 
the bheesti (a Hindu water carrier) which 
culminates in his chasing him all around 
the place, with the carving knife, after 
which he ushers himself into the presence 
of the mistress of the house and informs 
her that he is quite ready to beat every 
servant on the place, gesticulates in such 
a manner as to include her ladyship and 
the sahib also, if his honor required it. 

Of course, he leaves, and a Groanese 
comes on the scene. This descendent of 
Goa wears a black coat, with continua- 
tions of checked jail cloth, and a hat 
which he removes at the gate as he enters 
the compound. He has good chits (recom- 
mendations), but despite those, we know 



66 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

that Christmas has a certain fatality for 
him — and then, too, his cardinal vice is 
cruelty, not the passive Asiatic cruelty 
either, but that ferocious brand which 
generally marks an infusion of European 
blood. True, it is rather a weak infusion 
after having filtered through so many 
generations, but it shows itself in one way 
and another, especially in the torture of 
crows and in the killing of chickens by 
the inches. With all this intelligence, we 
hardly care to try him, but we do even 
though he soon disappears. 

Next comes the Madrassee with his 
spherical turban, and his remarkable 
command of English. He is supposed to 
prepare that famous luxury, ^* Madras 
curry,'' and we engage him. 

He appears neat as the average, but 
that is not saying much. His studio is 
fitted with a few small fire places, and 
furnished with copper dekshas (pots or 
pans), a chopper, some tin spoons, a co- 
coanut shell ladle on the end of a stick, a 
curry-stone, a rickety table whose undul- 
ating surface is chopped, hacked and 
scarred, besmeared, begrimed, and 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 67 

stained with all sorts of juices. On this 
he minces meat, chops onions, raisins, 
rolls out his pastry and sleeps. He has 
always to make toast for breakfast, which 
operation he performs by holding the 
bread between his great and next great 
toe, up to the fire to brown. 

He uses many tea towels or dusters as 
we call them here, but the most common 
in use is the tail of his shirt, which he al- 
ways conveniently wears outside his 
pantaloons. 

Though he has a table, he persistently 
washes the dishes on the earthen floor, 
never using any soap, but a handful of 
earth or most any kind of dirt now and 
again during the process. Truly, the poet 
is right when he says : 

** Where ignorance is bliss, 
'Tis folly to be wise," 

and especially, when we consider the 
cook-house. To think of the nice looking 
dishes the average cook can set before one 
from such a kitchen, makes us marvel. 
One can never tell what process the food 
has gone through before it reaches the 



68 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 




THE BHEESTI 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 63 

table. No matter what gets into it in the 
way of filth, insects, worms, etc., so long 
as it can be strained out. 

But before laying the pen down, we 
must tell you of a certain Englishman 
who had just found a treasure of a cook. 
The English are very fond of good colfee, 
and this particular one was telling his 
friend about the delicious drink his cook 
could prepare, and invited him over to 
sample it. 

He came. The coffee with some biscuits 
was ordered. After the usual time 
elapsed, in came the cook with the air of 
any of his kind. 

The guest tasted the coffee and ex- 
claimed: 

^^ Fancy! How delicious! Simply su- 
perb! How does he make it, pray'?" 

The host called the cook, saying, ^'Boy, 
tell the gentleman how you prepared the 
coffee." 

Of course, this touched his vein of 
pride and he began in his pidgin English: 

'^Me takes some water and puts the 
coffee into it, and me biles and biles it. 
Then me break one egg into it, and then 



70 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

'istrain it thro' my master's sock — and, — 

^^hat?" shouted the Master,— 
^Svhaf?" and ere he could go farther, the 
cook cried out consolingiy, ''0 sahib, it 
was a dirty one, it was a dirty one." 



CHAPTER XVII. 
Hindus' Incineration Ground. 



IN INDIA we have more than one way 
of disposing of the dead. Some are 
burned, some are laid on towers to be 
devoured by vultures, some are buried 
and some are thrown into deep wells. 

The Hindus burn; yet not all of them. 
Only the Brahmin (priest caste), banyah 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 71 

(grain dealer), deshmuk (warrior) and 
tlie Marathi (coppersmith, goldsmith, 
etc.) are allowed to burn, and that is with 
the provision that they are married. This 
rule stands good regardless of age. Years 
ago w^hen human sacrifice was in vogue, 
when a priest died, his wife was burned 
alive with his corpse. 

You will excuse us if we take a look 
into the home of a dying Hindu, who, in a 
few hours will be dead and carried to the 
burning ghat. It is said that he would 
not be dying were he not possessed of a 
demon, and the process to get rid of the 
demon is begun. It would be bad, indeed, 
should he die in demon possession. In- 
stead of sending for a doctor, they sum- 
mon the devil catcher. 

He solemnly enters the home and after 
some deliberation, requests that sweet- 
meats, chicken, cocoanuts, red cloth, and 
two or three rupees be put into the bas- 
ket. This he takes and tosses three or 
four times in front of the dying man, 
claiming to have power to persuade the 
demon to take his departure and go and 
have a square meal. 



72 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



The basket, with its contents, is or- 
dered to be taken to the jungles or where- 
ever the devil catcher may suggest. After 
an hour or so, he tells some one to go and 
see if the sweetmeats, etc., are in the bas- 
ket. They go and invariably the basket 
is found empty. 

During the hour or two that has inter- 
vened the devil catcher has employed an- 
other of his caste to go and empty the 
basket. The relatives of the dying man, 
however, are ignorant of this, and seeing 
the food gone, believe the demon has tak- 
en his flight and gone to have a meal 
therefore, the afflicted will ^^die good,' 
as they express it. 

Death comes. The remains are placed 
on a bamboo carry-all, and by the aid of 
four men, borne to the place of cremation. 

Wood and oil are taken for the fire. If 
relatives can afford it, oftentimes ghi, a 
sort of clarified butter, is used with the 
oil. On top of the pile of wood the corpse 
is carefully laid. Whatever oil or grease 
they have is now poured on the heap, and 
it is ready for the match and flames. Who 
will start the fire? If the departed has 






TO THE RIDICULOUS 73 

left a son, he will do it ; if there are two or 
more sons, it falls to the lot of the eldest. 
Should there be no sons, the oldest bro- 
ther performs it, and if no brother, then 
the wife ; and if no wife, then the nearest 
remaining relative. 

At any rate, the fire is started. Flames 
ascend high in the air. This makes quite 
a sight, especially when it takes place at 
night. Not long ago, one evening at about 
nine o'clock, we could see the mentioned 
flames from our rear mission windows 

Those attending a cremation service are 
supposed to stay till the head bursts 
open; then go and wash in a well or river, 
else perhaps, the town tank. In Igatpuri, 
they stay the i3roper time, then rush for 
the tank located near the municipal 
school, and have a bath. 

The relatives must now stay in the 
house for ten days. After that, the ashes 
of the corpse are thrown in the river. 
Hurrah for a big dinner! As everything 
demandent on them in connection with 
this death, has been accomplished, they 
believe they must have a feast or Maha- 
dev (a heathen god) will become angry 



74 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

witla them, and they will never get to the 
Hindus' heaven, which is commonly sup- 
posed to be Nirvana, a state of non-exist- 
ence. The highest state of being is not to 
be, they think. 

Every year, the first day after the new 
moon in August, they gather at the cre- 
mation ground and eat chapatties (un- 
leavened cakes or bread), dhal (lentil 
seed or pulse) and rice in memory of 
these occasions. 

A striking incident took place with a 
very stout man who died near us. When 
his body was taken to be burned, his rela- 
tives bought fifteen gallons of kerosene 
oil and the same amount of ghi and used 
for the fire. The fire became extremely 
hot; the burning body sat up amid the 
flames and shortly after, came rolling out 
toward the bewildered, frightened crowd, 
for they thought the dead had come to 
life. At this crisis, they took to their 
heels and left the burning corpse to him- 
self. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 75 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



Nanahar^s Translation. 



NANAHAR, a boy nine years of age, 
who has been an active little 
worker in one of our Sunday 
schools, has recently gone to glory. He 
was taken ill on Thursday night, with a 
high fever and passed away on the fol- 
lowing Saturday. 

The last Sunday he attended Sunday 
school he seemed extra cheerful and was 
anxious to quote the golden text of the 
lesson, which ran thus: ^^In my father's 
house are many mansions, if it were not 
so I would have told you. I go to prepare 
a place for you." 

This boy was unusually bright, and 
truly a worker for Jesus. He was among 



76 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



the first to go out into the streets and ga- 
ther others into the Sunday school. Less 
than a day before he passed away he said, 
^^I will take six new boys to Sunday 
school next Sunday/' 

When the news came to the mission 
that Nanahar had gone, sorrow filled our 
hearts. We went to his home and there 
laid the little lifeless form with nothing 
but a piece of thin cloth under it, on the 
damp mud floor. He had little clothing 
and no bed. His parents were too poor 
even to have a lamp that would give light 
enough so we could see around the room 
in which he lay. His home was made 
mostly of mud, and had no windows. In- 
deed, it was a dark, dismal place. A can- 
dle was brought and lit enabling us to see 
where we were. 

The casket in which the body was after- 
ward laid, was made of cheap wood and 
covered with white cloth. A bouquet of 
white flowers tied with white ribbon, was 
placed on top of the little form. A short 
service was held after which the remains 
were taken and buried to await the great 
resurrection. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



77 



We miss Mm. He is now with Jesus. 
His translation has given the school a 
deeper interest in heaven. Thank God 
for open doors in India, to missions, and 
for the glorious opportunity to reach 
these children born in heathenism, and 
teach them the way of Jesus Christ our 
Lord. 




78 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XIX. 
The Dhobi. 



THE DHOBI is the washerman of 
India. In America we speak of 
the laundry, a place where clothes 
are washed, while in India we speak not 
so much about the place or room as we do 
about the man who does the work. In 
Igatpuri, we have a number of houses 
given over to dhobi occupants. The dhobi 
enjoys living near others of his caste; 
therefore, where one is others will be 
found. 

India's washerman has some utensils 
that Noah left. He uses mud stoves, 
rough sticks for racks, and any rough 
stone will do for a washboard. Before we 
left New York city for India, we pur- 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 79 

chased a small washboard with hopes of 
introducing something better than a 
stone in washing clothes. Onr hopes thus 
far have been blighted, as they are not 
slow to give us to understand, though it 
is in a meek, mild way, that what is good 
enough for their renowned ancestors is 
good enough for them. 

The dhcbi commences his wash in a pe- 
culiar way. He has a brass vessel two 
feet in diameter and eight inches deep 
which is nearly filled with water. Then 
some soap or khar, a sort of salt mineral, 
is added to the water, and the vessel 
placed on the mud stove and securely ce- 
mented in with mud. A few sticks are 
placed across the top of the vessel and the 
soiled clothes piled upon them, oftentimes 
reaching as high as five feet. Covered 
over with many blankets, the fire is start- 
ed, and in this way the clothes are 
steamed for about five hours. 

When the steaming process is complet- 
ed, the clothes are taken to some brook 
and beaten upon stones. He takes them 
bv one end and bringing them over his 
head, lets them come down at a rapid rate 



80 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

on the stone thus removing the dirt, which 
he has taken in hand to eradicate from the 
garment. But the one is so closely ming- 
eld with the fibres of the other — the one 
is impalpable, the other bulky and sub- 
stantial, and so the torrent of his zealous 
rage unconsciously turns against the 
very substance of that which he sets him- 
self lovingly to purge and restore to its 
primitive purity. Indeed, we sometimes 
find that while he has wrecked the gar- 
ment, he has overlooked the dirt! Great- 
er and better men have been employed in 
the same way. 

Such are consolations of philosophy, 

''There was never yet a philosopher 
Who could endure the toothache patiently," 

SO what can we expect from our dhobi 
even in patient Hindustan f 

Howbeit, let us go on with the wash. 
The bluing is carried on in the same man- 
ner as in America, and the starching as 
well, though our starch is made from rice. 
Racks and lines are used in holding the 
clothes for drying, the latter being so ar- 
ranged that there is no need of clothes 
pins which we deem necessary in the 



to THE RIDICULOUS 



81 




THE PHOBI 



82 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

homeland. There is a certain twist they 
give it through which one end of the gar- 
ment can go, which twist takes the place 
of pins. 

One day as we were walking through a 
field near the mission, where several 
dhobies had lines filled with clothes, it be- 
gan to rain. We noticed each dhobi run 
toward his lines, and beginning at one 
end they ran the length of each, taking 
every garment as they ran. Since the 
poet says, 

''The Englishman hustles the Aryan brown, 
And the Aryan hustles the Englishman down," 

we would scarcely imagine that land of no 
ambition excelling Europeans, much less 
hustling America, in anything. But this 
clothes line is certainly better for India 
than those of western nations would be, 
for when a heavy storm comes up during 
the monsoons, had the dhobi to remove 
pins he would never have time to get his 
clothes in before the rain caught them. 

Well, the dhobi is an interesting per- 
sonage. Someone has likened him to a 
puppy rending slippers, a child tearing 
up his picture books, a mongoose killing 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 83 

twenty chickens to feed one, a free think- 
er demolishing ancient superstitions, — 
saying lastly: '^What are all these but 
dhobies in embryo'?" and we feel quite 
the same as this writer does evidently 
about him, especially as we open up the 
battered garments he has just brought 
from his torture chamber, w^hich have 
been ploughed through with his big char- 
coal iron lengthwise, crosswise, slantwise 
and every ^^ otherwise" — with now and 
then a glimpse of long black streaks and 
spots where glowing cinders have 
dropped on their tenderest places. 

But we shall not worry over this for, 
perhaps, the next time before the dam- 
aged articles reach their homes, they will 
have gone the rounds and some kind little 
body will have mended them up nicely, 
while we content ourselves by wearing a 
substitute that the same good dhobi has 
bestowed upon us because of having no 
education to enable him to read the mark- 
ings or to remember which is which (even 
though he has marked most of them him- 
self right in the most conspicuous place, 
w^ith an everlasting ink). 



84 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

Then the dhobi has a trick of hiring out 
clothes. You cannot evade the necessity 
for clean shirt fronts, ill able as your pre- 
carious income may be to meet it. In this 
or any other connection, the dhobi finds 
you garments of the best quality at so 
much an evening, and you are saved all 
risk and outlay of capital. In this way, 
the wealth of the rich helps the want of 
the poor, without their feeling or even 
knowing it (usually) — an excellent ar- 
rangement, of course. 

A missionary missed some articles of 
clothing, especially a blouse. She had ex- 
pected to wear it at a gathering in the vil- 
lage in the evening, but lo, it could not be 
found when the dhobi brought the clothes. 
However, she donned another blouse and 
on her way to the gathering, found a na- 
tive woman quite well dressed strolling 
along, and thinking she saw something 
familiar about the woman, looked closer 
and found her wearing the missing 
blouse. 

Well — done, undone, ripped, torn, 
patched — salaam. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 85 



CHAPTER 



Little Assuria. 



MY LITTLE Assuria! Let me show 
him to you. Only a tiny Hindu 
child — once the pet of the family; 
but the famine came, that dread famine 
with no mercy right nor left — grasping 
everything in its reach. Among the other 
thousands, Assuria 's home was stricken 
and one's heart wreaks with pain as he, 
between sobs, rehearses the terrible inci- 
dents relative to the family. 

Sisters sold for a few pice each, and 
sent away to be used for immoral pur- 
poses. Torn from their famishing loved 
ones, the few pice buys a few^ more ounces 
of rice for a day or so more of life; then 



86 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

death clutches the remainder of the fam- 

iiy. 

Assuria remembers the last pile of hu- 
man bones he saw the government ser- 
vants rake up and burn at that village; 
and well he should, for his mother, though 
a Hindu, fond as any mother of her baby 
boy, was in the burning. 

It is all too dreadful. The bones 
crackle, sizzle, burn; and he and his elder 
brother realizing what it meant to the 
full, started out in search of something to 
sustain life — but for the most part, to 
steal away from the sound of that horri- 
ble fire that stole all there was left of 
their mother dear. 

Only a few mornings before she had 
crept around as best she could on hands 
and knees and picked up grass seeds for 
their breakfast — none for herself — but 
oh! I must stop talking about her. Im- 
agine the worst — it is none too terrible 
for those famine times. 

For several days these two little famine 
waifs subsist on the few remaining leaves 
of the tree and grass seeds that they find 
now and again, but at last the brother 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 87 

succumbs, and little Assuria (for I have 
yet to tell you he was scarce more than 
five years old) wends his way alone. 

Finally, gnaived with pangs of hunger, 
famishing of thirst, for there was a fam- 
ine of water as well as of bread, he begins 
to eat dirt, earth, anything — and lays 
down to die. 

But we found him. Yes; barely more 
than a bundle of bones, with the skin 
drawn down tightly over them; a mass of 
sores — ^his stomach filled with stones — 
in the last stage of starvation — feet and 
limbs swollen, reminding us of a passage 
in Holy Writ which reads like this: 
^^ Forty years didst thou keep them in the 
wilderness, so that their shoes waxed not 
old and their feet swelled not.'' 

But Assuria was not one of those for- 
tunate ^^^ept" ones. He had never heard 
of the One who ''keeps." His heathen 
god was one that destroyed rather than 
''kept" — one that loved a human sacri- 
fice above all other offerings — thirsty al- 
ways for blood. 

Poor child! How often the first few 
days — yes, weeks, the little lamp of life 



88 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

seemed to be flickering its last, but with 
careful nursing and a morsel of food now 
and again (for we gave but little lest we 
should overfeed him), we brought him 
back to life. A year passes by, a few 
months more and he stands at my side, a 
round, bonny face and big bright eyes 
that bespoke sorrow. He was among the 
number that I never remember seeing 
smile, though he was one of our best 
Christians. 

It was next to impossible to keep him 
from storing away a portion of his food. 
With his appetite half satisfied, he would 
steal away to his cot, and tucked down in 
under the little blanket would be found 
enough food for a meal or so ahead. He 
lived ever expectant of famine. His 
brown eyes often filled up with tears as 
we remonstrated with him over this hab- 
it, and it was one of his greatest griefs if 
one of the boys stole his hidden treasure 
from the cot. 

In devotional exercises in school, in 
Sunday school, church and village meet- 
ings he was very attentive, and gave ev- 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 89 

ery evidence in daily life of being a Chris- 
tian. 

One of our pleasures those days was to 
hear him tell how he turned from idols to 
serve the living God, and hear him repeat 
in his native tongue one of his favorite 
passages which seemed ever to be his 
thought in summing up w^hat Christ had 
done for him: '^For I w^as an hungered, 
and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and 
ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and 
ye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me." 
We seemed then to lose sight of the long, 
tedious, weary hours we had spent in 
watching and caring for him, and fore- 
cast the time when the Saviour would say 
something of the same to us when we 
stand around the great throne. 




IN THE HOSPITAL 



90 



INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XXI. 
A Marvel. 



HAVE you ever seen a twenty-five 
pound stone lifted by the eyesf 
We have. A native juggler came 
to our door one morning to perform. He 
says, ^^ Sahib, if you will give me four 
annas, I'll lift that patthar (stone),'' 
pointing to it, ^^with my eyes." It was 
not the lightest load for one to carry to 
the steps where he stood, but we brought 
it. 

He pulled a strong fish cord from his 
pyjamas, fastened it firmly round the 
stone, slipped the other end in back of his 
eyes, secured it there and began slowly, 
slowly to pull upward. 

We were just about to have him give 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



91 



up the attempt, for fear he would injure 
his eyes permanently, when, believe me. 




we saw the stone had been raised a foot 
from the ground! 



92 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

With a triumphant, heroic look, gladly 
enough he let it down again, slowly — 
brought his hands forward (which mean- 
while had been folded back of him), re- 
moved the cord and pushed his eyes back 
into the sockets. They were somewhat 
bloodshot but otherwise quite all right, 
which was one of the greatest wonders 
we had yet run across in this half -hatched 
civilization. 

He earned his four annas (eight cents) 
in a comparatively short time as that is 
the average day's wages for a good work- 
man. 






TO THE RIDICULOUS 93 



CHAPTEE XXII. 
G-rinding at the Mill. 




EIXDINGr at the mill is no new 
topic before the world. It has 
been heard of and seen from thou- 
sands of years back up to the present. 
Samson experienced it while in the pris- 
on at Gaza; Isaiah prophesied it as a 
judgment to come on the daughters of 
Babylon and Chaldea. Jesus Christ our 
Lord has said: ''Two women shall be 
grinding at the mill; the one shall be tak- 
en and the other left." 

''Grinding at the mill" has been given 
over to the women. It makes no differ- 
ence whether the grinding is for the home 
circle or for the merchants in the bazaar, 
it is a sort of "Let the women do the 



94 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

work.'' The masculine sex feel them- 
selves above this particular line of labor. 

Low wages are attached to this as well 
as all other native employment^ especially 
since women are the employees. In Bom- 
bay Presidency we pay for grinding at 
the rate of one cent for two pounds of 
wheat or corn, one and one-half cents for 
two pounds of rice, one-half cent for two 
pounds of dhal. Should the grinders be 
working by the day, they receive about 
six cents. 

Grinding stones vary in size. Some 
are made for one woman to operate, and 
again some which are used during festiv- 
ities require as many as fifteen women to 
turn them. 

Along the streets during the heat of the 
day the grinders may be seen at work, 
seemingly not minding the tropical rays 
of the sun. As the old mills grind, they 
send forth weird sounds which are often 
accompanied by minor strains from their 
human propellers, for indeed, most of In- 
dia 's music is in the minor key. 

Mothers Avith their babes in their laps 
grind as well as others. The babes enjoy 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



95 



the '^ sound of the grinding'' (Eccl. 12:4) 
giving the old mill a look now and then, 
Avith a few winks between, and fall asleep 
as though rocked in a cradle. 

All that some folks see as they gaze at 
the grinding of the mill is wheat, rice, 
dhal, etc. Others' attention is drawn to 
the turning, the peculiar sounds, the ope- 
rators, the babies, etc., but there are still 
others of us who notice not only all the 
above and more, but seem to hear the old 
mill stones crying out, ''Be ye also 
ready."— Matthew 24:44. 




96 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XXIII. 
A Christmas Across the Deep. 



JUST as the clock strikes twelve an- 
other Christmas peeps into our lives. 
The midnight hour gives way. We 
are in the weights of slumber. The eyes 
are still heavy. Yet we must awake, 
though the previous day has been one of 
toil, as this season of the year is the time 
of house cleaning, whitewashing, prepar- 
ing presents, and many duties attendant 
a holiday of this kind. Awake'? Yes. 
What awakes us? Are we in the home 
land"? What do we hear? It sounds like 
a male quartette in America. But our 
surroundings are like that of India. 
Listen! 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 97 

^'Wliat more can he say than to you 

He hath said, — 
To you, who for refuge to Jesus have fled," 

floats out upon the night air. It is a sur- 
prise to us, for we did not know that four 
of our native Christian boys were so well 
versed in English, but they sing in excel- 
lent harmony and continue to sing, 

'^ While shepherds watched their flocks by night 
All seated on the ground," etc. 

We are awake and up for the day. The 
morning sun is welcomed. We are all 
dressed in white ; nature is clothed in her 
green; the air carries an unusual frag- 
rance; the people are remarkably happy. 
This is Christmas in India. 

Bring the hammer and we'll open the 
box sent from America to the mission. 
The whole village is interested. Here is 
the postman, the sweepers, cooks, bakers, 
policemen, washerman, water carriers, 
school teachers, masons, shoe makers, 
carpenters, merchants, ayahs (native 
nurses), in short, they all come. We soon 
learn that '^this is the missionaries great 
day," and we are expected to make gifts 



98 • INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

to all who ask in remembrance of the 
birth of our Saviour. We will do the best 
we can with what is at hand. 

The box, which is much appreciated, is 
opened. Presents sent to the native 
Christians and fellow missionaries are 
distributed first. Our hearts are made 
glad and knit closer to our home people. 
The wayfarers and villagers receive their 
portion. It is not only a time of giving 
temporal things, but 'mid the giving are 
proclaimed the glad tidings of a Saviour, 
who was given to redeem mankind. 

The Sunday school children have not 
been forgotten. Thank God! there was a 
suitable gift for each dusky face. The 
naked were clothed, the hungry fed. 
Their little faces beamed with joy; they 
laughed, they sang, they leaped. 

The church doors swung open and the 
house was soon filled to the full. Christ- 
mas services were held. Our aged native 
minister preached the sermon, which was 
full of life, hel|)ful and very instructive. 
Seed was sown in many hearts which will 
tell in years to come of its fruitage for the 
Christ of Bethlehem. After the service 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 99 

scores of children ran through the village 
lanes declaring what they had heard. It 
was a wireless message and soon reached 
the station of every human soul round 
about. 

The day is far spent and we are now 
ready for the Christmas dinner, which 
awaits us in the dining room. Look at the 
spread, so different from the regular rou- 
tine: Canned peaches from the United 
States, a plum pudding from England, a 
fruit cake from a Eurasian friend, suet 
dumplings from a Groanese, mutton chops 
from a Mohammedan, buffalo milk from 
a Hindu, and la-st but not least all sorts of 
India sweets from our native Christians. 
We are well filled and there is food to 
spare. 

Retiring to the drawing room, the even- 
ing is spent in visiting, after which we 
enter the evening circle of prayer and are 
greatly blest again from the throne of 
God. Good night. 



100 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XXIV. 
Bible Scenes in India. 



1. CAERYIXG BEDS. 

I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy 
bed, and go thy way into thine house. — 
Mark 2:11. 

The majority of India's people carry 
their own beds with them. On the streets, 
in the fields, in the trains, in the hotels, 
in the ditches, yes, everywhere we find 
that bundle. As a rule, their beds weigh 
from one to ten pounds, so they can easily 
be carried. Even as invited guests, we 
take our beds with us and be sure of 
a place to sleep when night overtakes us. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 101 

2. TOWERS. 

And he fenced it, and gathered out the 
stones thereof, and planted it with the 
choicest vine, and built a tower in the 
midst of it. — ^Isa. 5:2. 

To try to find a planted field in India 
without a tower, would be as great a task 
or greater, than trying to find a needle in 
a large hay stack. The towers are made 
of bamboo, straw, sticks, palms and the 
like. The capacity of these towers is to 
hold one person. The watchmen from 
these elevated huts are heard in the night 
seasons crying, ^^ram, rice, ghi," etc., and 
by so doing expect to keep away thieves. 
The missionaries, as they look upon these 
towers, are often reminded of the saying 
of the Psalmist, '^The Lord . . . my high 
tower." 

3. TREADING OUT THE COEK 

Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the 
ox that treadeth out the corn. — 1 Cor. 9:9. 

Over 3,350 years have elapsed since the 
above command was given. To this pres- 



102 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

ent day the ^4and of the trident'' uses the 
walking machines for threshing the grain 
the same as onr forefathers in the time of 
Moses. A stick is set quite firm in the 
ground; around the stick is strewn the 
grain that is to be threshed; one or more 
oxen are tied to the stake, which march 
round-and-round and tread out the corn, 
helping themselves to a mouthful now 
and then. Though the ox may eat many 
morsels per day, yet according to 1 Tim. 
5:18 it is all right for the laborer is wor- 
thy of his reward. Of course, our brother 
preacher sees a point in this scene. 

4. SALUTING FOEBIDDEN. 

Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in 
thine hands, and go thy way: if thou meet 
any man, salute him not ; and if any man 
salute thee, answer him not again. — 2 
Kings 4:29. 

The government peons that carry the 
British India mail to villages that are not 
situated near a railroad, run on a '*dog 
trot" style to villages. They are not sup- 
posed to salute any one — that is, shake 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 103 

hands, bow, hug, kiss or talk. If one sa- 
lutes another that much time is lost, and 
in carrying mail there is no time to lose 
for the ^^ king's business requires haste." 

5. EOCK m A WEARY LAND. 

As a shadow of a great rock in a weary 
land. — Isa. 32:2. Lead me to the rock 
that is higher than I. — Ps. 61:2. 

The great rocks are like wayside inns 
to the weary traveler, for there is no 
shade like that of a rock. Shade under a 
tree is oftentimes dangerous, as a tree is 
not as able to shade one from the tropical 
rays of the sun. The shadow of a rock is 
cooler than that of a tree. It is no infre- 
quent sight to see natives, who live in the 
western ghat region, resting their weary 
bodies in a rock's shadow. We have 
Christian natives who flee to these shad- 
ows for rest and prayer after a hard bat- 
tle with the enemy. 

6. EMPTY, SWEPT, GARNISHED. 

He findeth it empty, swept and garn- 
ished.— Matt. 12:44. 



104 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

' Everything is removed from the house, 
it is entirely emptied; then they take a 
harsh, stiff broom and sweep it, after this 
and unmentionable processes of cleaning, 
the house receives all sorts of markings 
with lime and chalk which is the oriental 
garnishing. 

7. UNDER THEIE OWN VINES. 

They shall sit every man under his own 
vine and under his fig tree. — Micah 4:4. 

The jungle huts are built near each 
other, very frequently with vines over 
the front entrance and a fig tree in the 
yard. This enables every man to sit un- 
der his vine or tree and visit with his 
neighbors. Many times have we sat un- 
der a vine or tree in the village meetings 
and witnessed those of the surrounding 
huts as they gathered under their respec- 
tive places to listen to the truth of Jesus 
Christ. 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 105 



CHAPTER XXV. 
Bible Scenes in India. 



8. WOMEN AT THE WELL. 

The woman saith unto Mm, Sir, thou 
hast nothing to draw with, and the well is 
deep. — John 4:11. 

It is no infrequent scene to find a num- 
ber of native women at the wells of our 
India cities, especially so in the morning 
and evening hours. Where we lived there 
were a number of wells. Some were giv- 
en over to one caste of people and some to 
another caste. There have been times 
when we were quite thirsty, nevertheless, 
we did not dare to take water out of cer- 
tain wells because we did not belong to 
the Marathi caste. We might have forced 



106 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

our way and taken the water, as it has 
been done in some cases to our knowledge, 
but desiring to see the people saved, did 
not feel at liberty to cause any trouble; 
therefore, went thirsty for several hours. 
As a rule, the women go to the wells to 
get the water for the native homes. They 
carry their own bucket and rope to draw 
the water. If we were there and desired 
a drink, about the first thing we would 
hear (if we did not have a bucket and 
rope), ^^Thou hast nothing to draw with 
and the well is deep." The next we would 
be informed that we were Americans and 
Christians, and should have no dealings 
with the Hindus. The third information 
is at hand and w^e are told that if Chris- 
tians should touch their vessels it would 
defile them. It is a sort of a case of 
'Houch not, taste not, handle not." At 
this point the missionary opens the good 
Book to John 4:3-23 and cries aloud that 
there is ^ ' a well of water springing up in- 
to everlasting life." 

9, MOTH, RUST, THIEVES. 

Lay not up for yourselves treasures 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 107 

upon earth, where moth and rust doth 
corrupt, and where thieves break through 
and steal. — Matt. 6:10. 

It may seem strange to class the three 
under one head, especially at first 
thought. Yet, it is not. They all belong 
to the same order of undesirable Knights. 
They all take what belongs to other peo- 
ple; they all go where they are not want- 
ed; they all come, many times, when one 
is not expecting them; they all cause mul- 
tiplied trouble; and leave behind a record 
not to be desired. 

The Trident possesses a moth that is 
gifted with the ability of organizing. 
They come in armies and conquer before 
one is aware that they have arrived. Rust 
arrives and is no small factor on the scene. 
In our locality during the monsoons, pins 
rust in a man's vest, hairpins rust in lad- 
ies' hair; hat pins rust so they cannot be 
used; yes, everything that is of iron or tin 
goes into the rusting business. 

Thieves, last but not least, are there. 
So many are ^^born to be thieves." There 
is no one quite like the fellow that is born 
to steal. Born to steal may be put in oth- 



108 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 

er words — stealing religiously. If we 
should ask, ''Why do you steals' the an- 
swer would be, ^^I am born to do that, 
and it is no sin unless I am caught at it." 
In Bombay there is what is known as 
chor (thief) bazaar. This is where the 
thieves take their stolen goods and dis- 
pose of the same. The white face may be 
seen at this bazaar seeking his lost goods, 
and, if found, the same may be purchased 
for the second sum of rupees (money). 
We all think that we do well to pay for 
our belongings once; twice over is once 
too often. 

10. CLAY USED AS MORTAR. 

Draw thee water for the seige, fortify 
thy strong holds: go into the clay, and 
tread the mortar, make strong thy brick- 
kiln. — Nahum 3:14. 

About the first thing to do when there 
is a wall to be made, sheds to be erected, 
houses to be built, floors to be put in, is to 
draw water. The next in order is to get 
baskets to carry the clay in and coolies to 
carry the baskets. With hoe, water, clay, 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 109 

baskets, sticks, stones, and the like, we 
are ready to build. When the natives of 
the land find their walls, houses, sheds or 
fences getting a little weak, they get some 
more clay and water and mix up the same 
with their feet and repair the weakened 
parts. This is going into the clay and 
treading the mortar. We have noticed m 
some of our journeys that all of the clay 
is not burned in the kiln. To burn all the 
clay and make burnt brick would be too 
costly; so only those used on the outside 
walls, houses, etc., are burned; those that 
are used on the inside are only dried m 
the sun, something similar to that of the 
adobe of our own land. 




110 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



CHAPTER XXVI. 



An Old Man^s Sacrifice. 



ALL DAY long the people had been 
coming with their offerings to the 
goddess Kali. Lambs had been 
slain by hundreds — the best of the flock, 
without spot or blemish if possible, be- 
fore this great goddess who demands the 
sacrifice of blood, — for blood she must 
have, even to the blood from the veins of 
her devotees. 

The missionary stands rolling it all 
over in his mind, thinking of what such a 
faith must mean. He thinks of how many 
pilgrims have tramped through long, 
weary journeys, measured their length 
for hundreds of miles to reach this god- 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 



111 




HINDU FAKIR 



112 INDIA FROM THE SUBLIME 



dess and appease her anger toward them. 

As he muses there is a jostle and the 
crowd pushes aside. The air is filled with 
excitement. The missionary moving to- 
ward the path that leads from the temple 
gate to the idol, stops and looks. The 
priests, who fall heir to the offerings, 
draw up closer to the idol, greedily watch- 
ing the object before them. 

It is a pitiful sight. An old man — bent 
with age — decrepit, his hands clasped as 
though holding something very precious, 
he comes nearer, nearer and nearer the 
idol. This surely must be a precious offer- 
nig, thinks the missionary, as he sees the 
benighted old man with slow, feeble step 
Hearing the idol. 

Eyes of all are turned upon the scene. 
He comes, comes still nearer and finally 
reaches the altar — with tears falling, de- 
votion beaming in his eyes, hands still 
clasped. He bows, falls on his knees, un- 
clasps his hands, and what should fall out 
before the idol but his tongue, all covered 
with blood! He had cut out his tongue — 
yes, his tongue — as an offering to this 
goddess to appease her anger, ever typical 



TO THE RIDICULOUS 113 

of the heathen's offerings to their gods. 
They offer the very best of whatever they 
have to offer. If a lamb, the best lamb; if 
too poor to offer only a flower, it is the 
best flower. 

The missionary's heart was broken as 
he saw the disappointed, look on the old 
man's face, after his offering to the god- 
dess. He turned to him, saying: 

^'I know you can't speak, but if you 
have never heard of Jesus Christ, kindly 
shake your head three times," and with 
tears still streaming down his face, the 
old man's head slowly moved from side to 
side. He had never heard. 



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ng^Y OF CONGRESS 

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